1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to a novel card game set for playing traditional or contemporary card games, and more particularly, to a plurality of rigid tiles having conventional card game faces and sufficient weight and durability for playing card games indoors and outdoors, and support racks for holding and organizing select tile pieces.
2. Description of the Background Art
Traditional playing cards have always enjoyed widespread use, however, they have never been conducive to outdoor use. The playing cards employed to date typically are made from paper products, such as cardboard, which include a slick waxy surface. These traditional type playing cards are known for being light and difficult to handle for the unskilled player, the elderly or arthritic person. Paper-styled playing cards have limited durational use, frail around the edges, tear, cannot be cleaned or exposed to moisture, and are easily blown around by wind and drafts. Conventional playing cards also lose their rigidity through repeated use and shuffling. Moreover, arthritic, disabled and elderly persons find it difficult to handle traditional playing cards because their hands have difficulty performing the finer motor skills required to manipulate thinly constructed cards. Playing cards, however, having increased weight, more durable construction and greater thickness would be easier to handle as well as more practical for outdoor use, more tolerant of rugged handling and more resilient for extended use over time. Consequently, a novel tile type card playing set would be well received if it overcame the foregoing shortcomings.
Several games are noted in the background art, which offer alternatives to traditional playing cards, but none of which address the problems noted by the present invention, or which offer a novel game tile set. For instance, Law, U.S. Pat. No. 295,023, teaches a domino made of wood, which may also have a playing card face pressed into it. The domino device taught by Law offers a construction which primarily attempts to protect the surface of the domino wood pieces by providing raised edges around the face, a pivotal pin projecting from the middle of the face and a celluloid cement covering. In contrast with the present invention, Law discloses a complex domino that does not provide flat continuous surfaces resulting in semi-smooth block-like structures.
Other references include the following listed hereto. Maennlein in U.S. Pat. No. 1,684,372, discloses a metallic playing card, typically of an aluminum alloy material. In U.S. Pat No. 1,890,504, Ferguson teaches a playing card made of paper, fabric, and/or any combination thereof which includes weighted material, such as tin, lead or silver foil, or any other metallic substance, interposed between laminations. The Ferguson playing card is only slightly weighted so as not to increase materially in thickness, or to affect the flexibility thereof. Edwards, U.S. Pat. No. 2,600,951, provides card game equipment, including para-magnetic playing cards and a magnetic playing surface for use in conjunction with the cards. The magnetic playing surface comprises areas exhibiting magnetic characteristics, while the playing card bodies include sheets of para-magnetic foil arranged as laminations covered with protective coatings. A multi-game deck of tiles is disclosed by Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,363, which comprises 168 tiles bearing indicia of months and seasons for playing Metropolee. The tiles are typically made of plexiglass, plastic, wood or ivory for playing Metropolee, a/k/a Four Seasons, as detailed in the specification. Finally, traditional type playing cards are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 433,656, issued to Sommer, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,665, issued to Huang. Huang teaches an anti-stick playing card made from a sheet of polyvinyl chloride coated with a paint and embossed with stripes and raised portions, while Sommer teaches 104 individual cards divided into 4 suits bearing markings such as hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades, the English alphabet and numbers which represent the frequency with which letters born by that card occur in words in the English language. In contrast with the present invention, the cited art does not provide game pieces which may be used for playing conventional card games and traditional games in combination by all individuals indoors and outdoors under varying weather conditions.
Therefore, a novel card game set having increased weight and structural dimensions for improved handling, outdoor use and greater durability would be well received. The present invention addresses the problems noted with traditional playing cards. The instant invention provides waterproof, windproof and easier handling cards for playing indoors and outdoors, and offers a game set that allows for creating new games. Applicant's invention also teaches novel playing tiles having a support deck in combination therewith. The novel card game set is designed so that it can be played outside by individuals of all skill and ages, including arthritic individuals, and under varying weather conditions including wind and inclement weather.